paludal (puh-LOOD-uhl) adjective
Of or relating to marshes.
Last night I sat in the dark dressed like a hick lumberjack and listened hard. Mullet wig, red and black checkered shirt, orange vest, mesh hat--all thrown together an hour before in an effort to tease the audience. I had my glasses stuffed in a breast pocket for the full inward effect, hoping to generate character based on the newness of softened environment, of a blurry horizon. "Just listen and react," I kept thinking, "You know what you're doing." And I did. I did know, from the very minute it began. From the first moment I felt that familiar sensation, the physical sigh, the stickiness of a rotting scene. I knew.
Failing on stage strips the ego of all dreams. It's the papercut from a mailed letter that's never received. It's walking to work with splattered mud across your suit on Casual Friday. That grand godly scale tipping and pouring your fears all over your face.
